I hate the Mirror Universe.

If I could erase one concept from #StarTrek canon so that all episodes concerning it never happened and I was guaranteed to never ever have to hear about it again, without question, it would be the Mirror Universe. In fact, the thing that changed #StarTrekDiscovery's first season from "Eh...this is a little different, but I could get used to it," to "Oh, god, no! Please no! Make it stop! Make it end!" was the nine unforgiveable episodes the show wasted in the unbeliveably stupid Mirror Universe.

Allow me to explain.

The original concept was not terrible as a one-off. For anyone who doesn't know, the MU's first appearance was in the #StarTrekTOS episode "Mirror Mirror." That's where the name comes from. And sidebar, I hate that characters call it the Mirror Universe because...why? In #DeepSpaceNine, they just called it "the Other Side." Which I can live with. But now, we've got Book and Boimler and Stamits and Mariner referring to it as "the Mirror Universe." Which only makes sense if you know that the episode was called "Mirror Mirror." That's why it's so dumb and lazy for modern Trek writers to be having characters use fan-made terminology. But putting this aside...

The original concept: "What if there was an evil version of the Federation?" Okay, that's mildly interesting. I think "Mirror Mirror" falls flat as an episode because the characters aren't just evil, they're stupid-evil: easily outwitted by Kirk and his Prime Universe companions. The level of absolute dipshittery on the part of the Mirror Universe characters is so absurd you wonder how they were able to build starships in the first place. Or how they ever got out of the Stane Age! But even if the episode was brilliant, that's it. That's all you get. It is a concept that is good for exactly one episode.

But of course, Deep Space Nine had to bring it back. I kind of hate Deep Space Nine for this. Because I'm covinced that if they had left it alone, the Mirror Universe would have just been that one campy episode of the Original Series. But no, they brought it back. And yet, I must also give them some props because they didn't make it a stupid fucking bizzaro world where everyone is an evil reflection of their Prime Universe counterpart. It would have been so easy to have Mirror Sisko as the ruthless commander of the Terran Empire's ore processing station with Kira as his jackbooted gestapo and Bashir as a mad scientist pursuing twisted medical experiments. But - thankfully - they didn't do that. Mirror Sisko's life isn't just a dark reflection of Prime Sisko's life. In fact, the two are radically divegent. Same for all the others. And the fact that the MU could go in its own direction instead of being tethered to the Prime Universe (by the requirement to be a dark reflection of it) at least made those episodes bearable. That said, every single one of those Mirror Universe episodes is an annoying break in the main story, and I skip them on every rewatch.

I don't even want to talk about #StarTrekEnterprise's brief foray into the Mirror Universe because it's Enterprise. The worst Star Trek series ever made.

Which brings us to Discovery. Now, we're back to the Mirror Universe being a stupid Bizzaro world. Mirror Stamits is a mad scientist. Mirror Burnham is a ruthless terran commander. Mirror Tilly is...a captain, somehow? I mean, she's the same age as Tilly, right? And Tilly is a cadet in season 1. So...the Terran Empire put an 18-year-old in charge of one of their most powerful ships? And of course, because Tilly is sweet and kind, Mirror Tilly has to be the most violent and psychopathic of all of them. Because it's a stupid fucking Bizzaro world again.

And call me crazy, but I kind of feel like the writers were so desperate to write a space dystopia - and so constrained by the fan backlash to their darker take on Starfleet - that they were like, "I know! Let's just play in the Mirror Universe where we can have all our characters be as evil as we want."

And that leads me sraight into #StarTrekPicard. "But, Rich! There's no Mirror Universe in Star Trek Picard!" Oh, but there is. You see, I am convinced that the hacks who gave us the steaming pile of dogshit that is Picard's second season were just itching to throw Jean-Luc and his pals into the Mirror Universe. And I bet you that was proposed in the orgiral pitch meeting. Maybe they even got a script half finished before somebody checked Memory Alpha and discoered that they can't send The La Sirena to the Mirror Universe because in the 25th century, the Mirror Universe is on its way to becoming more like the Prime Universe. Those pesky Deep Space Nine writers ruined their dystopia. So, they made a cheap Mirror Universe knock off where instead of a Federation, they have a fascist confederacy. Like of all the things to bring Q back for...

So, why do I hate the Mirror Universe?

1) Bizzaro worlds get boring very quicly.
2) Even when it moves beyond that concept, it disrupts the story I actually care about.
3) Too many of Trek's current writers want to do a space dystopia. So instead of just doing that under a different franchise, they use the Mirror Universe to make a dystopic version of Star Trek. And I hate that.

End rant.

@petertrek1 @maweki @godlessmom

Thoughts?

Gonna repost something that I shared on my other account. As it's on my mind.

Warning: what follows is my personal opinion. I will state that once up front and that's it.

#StarTrekDiscovery is okay. Not great, not terrible. Okay.

Sorry, chuds, it's not a wretched travesty of a show and a disgrace to #StarTrek

Sorry, progressive fans, it's not the groundbreaking work of genius that some of you seem to think it is. It's okay.

The problem with Discovery is not the cast. In fact, the cast is the show's best feature. The diversity is definitely a strength, but of equal importance is the fact that these characters are just bursting with personality. They're the kind of people that you would love to hang out with on an ordinary Tuesday and just watch them go about their everyday lives.

The problem is that you seldom get to see them do that.

The show is loaded with pacing issues and sideplots that don't go anywhere or lead to an unsatisfactory conclusion.

Each season sets up a mystery arc with a lackluster finish where the big reveal is never as interesting as you hoped it would be.

The writers rely too heavily on cheap action and poorly executed fan-service as opposed to exploring the rich and detailed universe that only a franchise like Star Trek could provide. You have 55 years of history and 9 television series to play with, but Discovery often refuses to touch that material beyond casual references and jokes.

For instance, Nog: the first Ferengi in Starfleet and a primary character in Deep Space Nine. His character arc was also a chance to explore the changing social conditions on his world. At the start of the series, Ferengenar was a misogynistic, capitalist planet where women didn't have the right to work or even wear clothes. By the end of the series, the new government was instituting changes: supporting labour unions, extending rights to women and starting public healthcare plans.

Discovery - which is set 800 years after DS9 - will show us a ship called the USS Nog. And it will show us a random Ferengi in a captain's uniform. But it won't take us to Ferengenar or let us see how the planet has changed.

Cheap fan service as opposed to good world building.

All that said. Burnham is a wonderfully complex character and it's about damn time we had a black woman in the captain's chair.

Stamits and Culber are my favourite couple in all of Star Trek. Their little family with Adira and Gray as children is adorable.

Tilly is delightful in every single scene that she's in.

I love Jett Reno's snarky attitude.

Georgiou is always a treat. As I said: fantastic characters, boring plot. When you average out the good and the bad, you get something in the middle

This is my favourite episode of #StarTrekDiscovery to date. I absolutely love the way the 10-C communicate and think. It's rare for Trek to give us truly alien aliens.

#StarTrekHour